Want to see real change come to America? Want to see its most
critical problems solved? Well, that cannot happen, it will not happen unless
the power of the American people is activated and energized. If that power
continues to remains dormant this nation will remain in a state of lethargy and
regression and will not recover.

This government, once known as a government of the people
is not functioning in the way that the Founding Fathers intended or envisioned.
It is failing the American people in their great time of need. We might say
that it has become infested; not with ethics, honesty and integrity but,
rather, with the money, power and the insidious influence of Corporatism.

Why is the current condition of this nation so very
tenuous and grave with so many problems not being addressed and remaining unsolved?
Something is really wrong with the way the affairs of this nation are being
conducted. Nothing could illustrate this stagnant condition better than the
current outdated and obsolete presidential election process. It's much too
long, far too expensive, contaminated by corporate money and influence and one
that, in the eyes of the world, is just plain bizarre. America's most critical
problems and their solutions are either watered down or not even brought up in
the nearly useless election discussions which are erroneously called debates.

This election process has become a charade; it's like a
Broadway production that is endlessly extended with the principal actors conveying
the same baseless messages over and over, without detailing the specifics of their
plans -- if they even have any. They say they will create millions of jobs and
that they will stop the flow of jobs to China; but they never say how they
would do it. Both candidates want to be viewed as strong on national security
and maintaining the history's most powerful military but they would never
acknowledge the fact that its monumental costs are breaking the financial back
of this nation.

It's like watching an act featuring impressionists and
illusionists; the mainstream media, day in and day out, sends out a message
that sounds like a broken record; Fox News' wants to make Romney appear as the
nation's savior while MSNBC believes that President Obama can do no wrong. And
the network news? Forget it. What about the voter opinion polls? This article
casts serious doubts about the process by which these polls are taken and
raises the question of whether they have become totally unreliable.

It's high time to get started to transform this entire
worn out political process that no longer works. Speaking of getting a movement
underway, here's a thought; if you are confronted with a very difficult, almost
insurmountable problem; if you need to find a way to solve it then the first
thing you have to do is -- START! It's time to ignite the power of the American
people, over 300 million strong, a power that once gets underway, will develop its
own unstoppable momentum.

But why is it that in this nation that is so large and
powerful we have not seen modern-day patriots who have the courage, the
conviction, and the organizing and motivating skills come forward to do just
that? Is it conceivable that these individuals do not exist, that there are no
Americans who possess the necessary skills and talents needed for such a
monumental task? Or is it that they just don't possess the courage and
conviction that it would take?

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I don't have specific answers to those questions. But this
I do know; it's time we stopped wasting a monumental amount of time railing
against the corrupted two party system when we should be about the business of
building a third party with the power to put an end to its corruption.

I also know that when the thirteen colonies were under the
oppressive, suppressive rule of King George III, our Founding Fathers did not,
initially, know how to deal with the great dangers the country faced. These
were fearless, courageous men but they knew, that to confront and defeat the
British, they had to rally the people to their cause; and they did. They found a way. They didn't merely
condemn the evils of the British occupiers; they harnessed the power of the
people to bring an end to them.

America , England and
their allies faced a tremendous predicament and, at first, did not know how to
combat the power and might of the Axis powers whose objective was to control
the world in the 1940's. However, the Allied
leaders of that time didn't waste their time on endless tirades and
condemnations of the Axis powers' brutal invasions; instead, they formed a
strong coordinated military force and found
a way to defeat them.

During the early years of the America's space exploration the
idea of sending a man to the moon was thought of as an impossible dream,
something out of reach of our capabilities. But then those leading the effort found the way to get it done. But right
here, right now what we need to do doesn't involve rocket science; we simply
need some capable Americans to roll up their sleeves and build a strong third
party.

If unleashed, what exactly can the power of the people
accomplish? There are several directions that such a movement could take but
let me identify just two that are desperately needed. The horrific Vietnam War
was brought to an end largely because of the massive protests and
demonstrations of the people. That same thing must happen today with the people
of American demonstrating and demanding that this government stop pursuing its
current misguided agenda and do what is right for this nation and its people. Such
protests and demonstrations must be massive, constant and take place in every corner
of this nation; but they must also be peaceful, not allowing violence to dilute
their effectiveness.

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Secondly, the power of the people must be used to reform
this political system. That power can generate the tremendous force that will
be required to finally create a strong third party in America; far
stronger and much more effective than the weak, loosely organized efforts that
we see today. I'm speaking of a powerful, expansive national third party that
would be created by a broad grass roots movement; a party that has a message
that will resonate across America
and cause millions upon millions of Americans to completely distance themselves
from the politicians who have turned this Congress into the equivalent of a
national cesspool.

This can be done, it must be done and only the power of
the people can get it done. Just think of what our Founding Fathers would do in
this situation. Men of the stature and courage such as Washington, Jefferson,
Adams, Paine, Franklin, Madison and others would not let anything stop them; they
would be at the forefront of the movement to energize and lead the American
people; they would find the ways to bring
this nation back from the edge of this abyss.

You may have heard about or witnessed what the media
called a "third party debate" recently. The debate was a really good political
event but it was misnamed because there is no real Third Party in American
politics. This was a debate between Rocky Anderson of the Justice Party, Virgil
Goode of the Constitution Party, Libertarian Gary Johnson and Jill Stein of the
Green Party.

Michael Payne is an independent, progressive activist. His writings deal with social, economic, political and foreign policy issues. He is a featured writer on Opednews and Nation of Change and his articles have appeared on many other websites (more...)